Moose 2

The large bull moose shown in the first three photos was not visible from the road. We had already stopped to photograph a bull (shown in yesterday's Photo of the Day) and when it walked into the bushes, I walked a little further down the road and saw this large bull. Then the moose we had been photographing earlier walked into the scene. What luck! Two large bull moose within twenty feet of each other. Remember that the antlers on these animals will continue growing for another month or two so imagine how much bigger their antlers will be later in the Fall.

The last photo shows another moose that we saw among the alders on the side of the road. When it realized we were there, it bolted across a boggy area and I managed to capture several images as it ran away at full speed. This last photo shows ithe moose just as it started to jump over a few bushes at the edge of the bog. Note the position of its two front legs. This would have been a great sequence to capture on video.

Moose

Most, if not all of you, know that I enjoy photographing moose and even though I see them often here in my own backyard, I was still excited to see 16 moose during our trip up the Viking Trail. Of course we stopped to watch and photograph all of them.

The first photo shows three moose in the same image and, believe it or not, there was a fourth one just out of the scene. Two of the moose disappeared into the woods shortly after we stopped the car, but I photographed the two that were closest together for several minutes. Shortly afterwards we saw a large bull moose fairly close to the road. It was curious about the three people approaching with cameras, then turned and walked into the bushes. You can see from the photos that the bull was quite healthy.

Tomorrow I will share a few more photos of the moose we saw between Eddies Cove and St. Anthony.

The Arches 2

There were two young teenagers walking along the beach in the background of one of the arches and I made several photos of them as they explored the interesting rock structures. This was the first time I have photographed the Arches when the tide was out, and the first time there were people in the scene. I think they added a different "feel" to the photos. I do not know the people but I am allowed to publish the images because they kids are not identifiable.

In the last photo you can see a wide view of the rock structure that gives the park its name. Try to imagine what this area looked like millions of years ago before the ocean started its relentless attack on the rocks. Isn't the power of Nature amazing?

The Arches

Our next stop along the Viking Trail was The Arches Provincial Park. Erosion has taken away most of the rock in a cliff leaving large arches. I have photographed the interesting rock structure three or four times previously, but it was interesting to make images on a foggy day

Since it was overcast, I concentrated on shooting through the arches knowing that the rock would be silhouetted creating abstract shapes that frame the image. A young girl was walking along the rocky beach in the background and added a different dimension to the fourth image.

Parson's Pond 3

Thanks for the interesting comments on the Doors of Parson's Pond. Today I am sharing the last of the photos I made in that little town. You can see that it was still foggy and overcast and I included as little sky as possible in my compositions.

It was difficult to make images of Parson's Pond without including utility poles and wires. As well, when looking towards the highway a long concrete bridge across the river was dominant in the background. In the first photo you can see the fronts of the colourful fishing stages that were in the photos I shared over the past couple of days.

Parson's Pond 2 - Doors

As we walked along the road in Parson's Pond, the doors of the sheds caught my attention. I photographed many of the doors, most of which I am sharing today. A few look a little odd because I was photographing them from the road, which was a couple of feet higher and that caused a little distortion in the photographs.

The grass in front of the first image indicates that the stage hasn't been used much recently. I liked the red siding and door trimmed in green. The sign, which I also liked says, Randys. Purple is an unusual colour to see in outports I have visited in Newfoundland and Labrador. Later I photographed another purple stage (fifth photo) so it may be more common in this area of the province. I also liked the green door trimmed in beige. There is something on the bottom of that door which I have never seen before. I have an idea what it might be, but I bet there are people on my list that know the correct answer. ... Let me know if you do.

Parson's Pond

It was still foggy and overcast when we arrived in the small town of Parson's Pond, but because photos with fog can be excellent, we decided to try and photograph the fishing stages anyway. As well, when it is overcast I try to include as little sky as possible in my photos in order to avoid overexposed skies. The last photo this morning is an example - I exposed for the colours in the sheds so the sky is very bright in the photo.

Like many communities in Newfoundland and Labrador, the stages are situated around the harbour making it difficult to photograph unless one shoots across the water. The first image was taken with my 17-40 mm lens set at maximum zoom. The second was taken with my 70-300 mm zoom lens. The last photo shows the long line of colourful storage sheds along the roadside in the town.

I am not anxious to change lenses when it is foggy and damp, but it was necessary in order to capture the images I wanted. I clean my camera body and lens often when shooting in damp foggy conditions or on a beach with ocean spray. I use an Ultra Microfibre Cloth which I purchased at a flea market in Florida a few years ago. It is perfect for this purpose.

Western Brook 2

For the next while I plan to share photographs taken during my recent trip up and down the Viking Trail. It will give you the opportunity to see the type of photos I take while on a photo trip as well as the type of things you will find to photograph along the way, should you decide to take a trip as far as L'Anse aux Meadows.

The sandy beach at Western Brook goes on for miles and on a normal day one would find many interesting things to photograph. I have taken many photographs of this beach over the years, a few of which have been published in textbooks.

There were only a few others on the beach that day because it was very overcast and windy. As I walked along, the large pieces of driftwood caught my attention and I made photographs of several pieces.

My brother was walking in the background as I photographed one large piece of driftwood and I decided to include him in the image. Other large pieces of wood I photographed were nearly buried by the shifting sand.

Western Brook

This morning I am starting to share photos taken on my recent trip to L'Anse aux Meadows. I will refer to photos over the next week or two as the Viking Trail Series.

Our first stop after leaving Grand Falls/Windsor was Western Brook Park. The weather had been overcast and foggy all the way through Gros Mrone National Park, but had brightened just a little when we arrived at Western Brook. I suggested a quick walk to the beach even though the sky was still overcast.

The first photo shows Western Brook flowing towards the long sandy beach. You can see that it is pretty rough, which indicates how much rain they have been having. Most of the rivers we saw on our trip were high and very rough.

The sand dunes on the beach seem to have grown since I was there last. The grasses growing on the dunes help anchor and protect them from the high winds blowing off the ocean.